CM: Compassion vs. professionalism – Walker’s reaction to Dele Alli’s red card divides fans | OneFootball

Kyle Walker’s actions towards the end of AC Milan’s win over Como have divided opinion, specifically his reaction to Dele Alli being sent off.

Alli was initially shown a yellow card for a nasty studs-up challenge on Ruben Loftus-Cheek, but after a VAR check it was upgraded to a red card. As the referee Matteo Marchetti was about to show the red card, Walker ran over and tried to convince him not to.

As Calciomercato.com write, while Alli’s challenge itself could be put down to rustiness (mentally and physically) or perhaps trying too hard to impose himself during his Como debut, Walker’s reaction is somewhat more puzzling.

Nonetheless, the pair are compatriots and were team-mates both at Tottenham and with the England national team. The Rossoneri right-back knows his colleague’s career and personal situation well (Alli suffered from depression and other health problems), and his reaction showed some empathy.

Dele Alli spoke in an interview with Gary Neville in the summer of 2023: “I used sleeping pills and alcohol to numb my feelings, I decided to go to the clinic because I felt I was losing the battle. At six years old I was molested. I was sent to Africa to learn discipline, then I was sent back. At seven I started smoking, at eight I started dealing drugs.”

The background then provides reasoning for the understandable compassion, yet the incident remains strange: a player with great experience who asked for a red card not to be given to an opponent with the result of the match still in the balance in the 81st minute.

Alli’s absence from the pitch that lasted two very long years and in those tense minutes at San Siro, Walker thought about a troubled friend more than an opponent. Yet, some Milan fans believe it to be a ‘genuine lack of professionalism’.

In their opinion, friendship stays outside the playing field and can manifest itself in other contexts and circumstances. The most popular question is this, what if the red card were halted and Alli had scored the equaliser in the 96th minute?

Clearly, not everyone has the same interpretation of Walker’s gesture, though some saw it as a total lack of respect towards Milan. Both sides must be highlighted and understood with the awareness of what Alli represents to Walker.